Valve mechanism for flushing tanks



July 20 1926. 1,593,432

w. B. CAMPBELL VALVE MECHANISM FOR FLUSHING TANKS Filed March 6. 1.924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M I 7 E /6 A? III I /////////l //l //l aim.

July 20,1926. A 1,593,432

W. B. CAMPBELL VALVE MECHANISM FOR FLUSHING TANKS Filed March e. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 20, 1926.

VT'ILLIAM CAMPBELL, OF-NASI-IVILLE, TENNESSEE.

VALVE MECHANISM'FQR.FLUSHING TANKS.

prl a filed M rch Myinvention relates to an improvement. in valve mechanism. for. fillshingtanks.

Qne. of the fundamental ideas. of this invention is, to providefor'the. discharge of substantially the entire contentsof the tank with each flushing operation.

Another object is to provide a, tank with a substantially unobstructed.interior, sothat a disconnected buoyant valve will control the discharge outlet. v

'llhis invention" includes a buoyant, valve, a I valve-arrester' in the upwardpath of the valvewhen, it. rises fIQIIQ ltS. seat, with, provision forv unobstructed lateral movement of the valve, whereby it is. prevented from. returning. to its, seat until substentially the entire contents. of. the. tank shall. havebeen i$l sllgeC -.j

In the. accompanying drawings Big 1 is. vertical cross section on the line 1-1 of, Fig- 4c,

Fig. 2is a view in perspectiveof one form of thevalve-arrester, 'andglijfter, when made in a single.fixti ire;

Fig 3 is. a detailof one of the clamps;

Fig. 4; is, a view. mainly in section and partly, in front elevation;

' Fig. 5 shows an, alternativeform,

A, I represents. a tan; with. the usual ballcockj 1 and overflow. pipe 2 leading tothe dischargeoutlet 3 at thebotto m of the tank.

The numeral 4.. indicates, the usual float; 5, the. flushdev'er handle; 6, theflush-lever; and 'f, the afterfill,

V, represents a buoyant valve madehof any suitable inaterialj A valve-arresten 8 is located in the upward path of thevalve, in practice preferably about. five. inches above the. valve-seat 9, where it forms a inent, of the. valve when removed from; its seat 9 by tl1e..valve-liiter 10.

The arrester 8 may be made in any approved form, theonly essential being that it P obstructsthe' valve at the top only, or in its upward; movement, leavingit free to move about in,the t aink. with the flow 015- water so that; it will be. above, the influence of the suction, due to therapid escape ofthe water, through. the discharge. outlet 3;

In; the fixture illustrated. in Figs, 1 and 2, the: valve-arrester 8; andvalve-lifter 10 areboth, a. part of, or, connected with, the st'en ,-1 1-, .thus maintaining; a fixed relation between, the arrester, and.) lifter. In. this form, the stem is provided with rings 12 stop. to. arrest or, check the upward move-v Serial No. 697,301.

which slidably embrace the over-flow pipe 2, asviewed in, Figz l.

This entire. fixture is retained. upon the overflow pipe 2 by clamps 13.; These clamps Beach have a lugle which enters oneof the slots 15 in the stem, forming both a guide and stop, which limitthe valve-arreste'n and litter to a straight up. and down movement, preventing. it. from tnrning, and 05 also forming stops to limit theinovenient of the stem 11 to the-length of the slots.15. The flushrlever 6-. preferably extends through. an opening 16 inthe extreme upper end ofi the stem asshownin Figs. 1 and 4, so that the valve-lifter is raised and the valve lifted from its, seat, as the .flllSll'lQVQI' is. turned fi'o1n, its normal position. f

'llhus,inthis illustrative for-ni of n ypres: ent, invention, both the] valve. arrester valve-lifter are slidably connected with the overflow. pipe, and are raised. andlowered with eachoperatio-n of flushing the-tank.

As, an alternativeforin, the valve-arrester 8 might be entirely independent of the valve-litter as, shown in Eigl 5, in which construction the. arr-ester is. rigidly secured to the clamp 17, and.thelatter-is adjustably secured at any desired elevation ointhe'overflowpipeQ; The stem 11 otthevalve-lit'ter slides freely inthe frecess. 18 in theclan p, Thearrester 8 is all-important, andgit, is equally important that it belocated inthe direct 'upward path of the; valve, andv that the valve be. obstructed, from above only, and, not at; the sides, or laterally. The ohjectof this arrester. istoprevent the valve fromrising'high enough in thetanlnto become lodged on any. of the tank fittings, 11 space would permit, it wouldbe unnecessary to arrest the valve in its upward movement. By the useof this valve-arrester, it. is possible to. use a minimum. si zed tank and: consequently use a-Ininimum amount-of water, and to, fit the same with standard fixtures now inuse, I l

By locatingthe arrester directly. aboveor in the path of the valve theJa-rrester will always. catch and hold. thevalve (upon being lifted. from itsfseat abovethe suction-)- until the water shall have recededtoapoint below the. arrester, after which the valve will, float from, beneath the arrester unobstructed around the tank under theinfluence of the water flowing in from the ball-cock.

Immediately. upon, being lifted from its seat, the valve. assumes thewposit-ion shown in dotted lines in i. and full lines in Fig. l, where it remains until the water level recedes and it can float thereupon and still escaae beneath the lower edge of the arrester, whereupon it is swept to one side bv the inrush of the fresh supply of water from the ball-cock out of the way of the water discharging from the tank where it remains until substantially all of the water is drained out of the tank, at which time itmoves back to its seat and assumes its position as shown in full lines in Fig. l, where it remains until the operator again moves the handle and lifts the valve from its seat to flush the tank.

On account of the sloping bottom of the tank and the flush-valve not checking the flow of water passing from tank to bowl, the water flows with greater velocity and volume, thereby reducing friction and sluggish movement of the water on its way from the tank to the bowl, thereby greatly increasing the efiiciency and operation of the bowl.

lVhile I have endeavored to describe this invention as I have tested it out, and am new manufacturing it, at the same time I do not wish to limit myself to the construction shown, the essential features being a valve-arrester in the upward path of the valve with freedom of lateral movement for the valve. The valve is controlled by several separate, distinct influences (l) The lifting from its seat against the suction due to the discharging water through the valve-seat;

(2) The arrest of its upward movement before it reaches the surface of the water which it'seeks, due to its buoyancy;

(3) The lowering of the valve from beneath the arrester with the receding or lowering water level in the tank;

(4) Its lateral movement and play about the tank under the influence of the inrushing water from the ball-cock, all of which cooperate and proceed in orderly fashion. to accomplish successfully the purposes of my present invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a tank, a valve-seat at the bottom thereof, a buoyant valve, an open-sided valve arrester located vertically above the valve-seat and leaving a free and unobstructed path for the ball in a horizontal movement, and means for unseating the valve.

2. In a device of the character described, a tank with its bottom sloping to an outlet, a valve-seat at the outlet, and located below the major portion of the bottom, a buoyant valve, an open-sided valve arrester located vertically above the vale-seat whereby a free and unobstructed path is left for the valve in various horizontal directions, and means for unseating the valve.

3. In a device of the character described, a tank, a valve-seat at the bottom thereof. a buoyant valve, an open-sided valve arr-ester located vertically above the valve-seat, and a distance thereabove greater than the diaineter of the valve whereby to allow the latter limited vertical movement and freedom of lateral movement during the flushing of the tank, and means for unseating the valve.

4. The combination of a tank having a discharge outlet, a valve for controlling the same, an overflow pipe, a ball-cock, a combined valve-arrester and valve-lifter slidably connected with the overflow pipe, and a flush-lever for moving the valve-lifter and arrester to unseat the valve and flush the tank.

A device of the character described including a tank, a ball-cock, a valve-seat, a buoyant valve, means for unseating the valve, means a predetermined distance above the valve for arresting the upward movement of the valve until the water level dcscends in the tank sufliciently to lower the valve and free it from the influence of the said device and expose it to the counter-- influence of the incoming water from the ball-cock su'lliciently to retard its immediate and direct return to its seat.

6. A device of the character described including a tank, a valve-seat, a buoyant valve,

ieans for unseating t-he valve, a valve arrester located in the vertical path of the buoyant valve for momentarily arresting the valve in its ascent when unseated from the valve-seatuntil the water level in the tank descends to a position to lower the valve from the arrester, after which it is given freedom of lateral movement resulting from the inflow of water for re-filling the tank.

7. A device of the character described including a tank, a valve-seat, a buoyant valve, means for unseating the valve, a valve-arrester submerged below the normal water level of the tank whereby to catch and retain the buoyant valve until the water level in the tank lowers sutliciently to permit the valve to move laterally out of the direct vertical path from the valve-seat to arrester due to the inflow of the water which refills the tank.

8. In a tank having a sloping bottom and an outlet at the lowest point therein, the con'ibinat-ion with a valve-seat, a buoyant valve, and means for lifting the valve from its seat, of an arrester placed in the direct vertical path of the valve as it rises upon being lifted from its seat, said arrester of such construction and so adapted that it will admit of the valve moving laterally out of the direct line of suction when the water level in the tank lowers to a point sufficiently below the arrester to permit its release therefrom, after which the valve comes under the influence of the suction through the outlet and is returned thereby to the valve-seat.

9. In a flushing tank, a buoyant valve which has limited vertical movement with respect to the normal Water level in the tank, a horizontally disposed arresting means in the direct vertical path of the valve a distance from the valve-seat greater than the diameter of the valve, the valve being free to move out of its direct up-anddoWn course when the Water level in the tank descends below a predetermined height,thus retarding the return of the valve to its seat.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature. 

